Freak! » Roadtrip Journal » Huntsville, Alabama

This happened in early 1996 and I was definitely due for a road trip. The idea for it began innocently enough... I heard through the newsgroups that a Star Trek convention that was to be held in Huntsville, Alabama while I was thumbing through some of the lesser known toy collecting magazines at the Willowbrook Commons Book Stop. My hobby of collecting action figures occasionally gives me pause to check out these rags. I personally subscribe to Tomart's Action Figure Digest, but the news of the convention hadn't hit their pages at the time. The Playmates Toys web pages were also making a big deal about this upcoming convention. Playmates Toys was teaming up with Spencer's gifts to produce a limited edition series of 10,000 Sulu & Scotty figures as seen in the Classic Trek episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before." These figures weren't the only reason I went because I didn't fail to notice the fact that this would be the first convention to be held officially by Paramount Pictures, not to mention the fact that a large number of television and movie stars would be present; however, it was the elusive pull of Exclusive Playmates Action Figures that sealed my destiny. I thought to myself, "Buy them, and they will come." I would also wind up entertaining myself at the same time. After plopping down $60 for two "grunt" class tickets via the convenient 1-800 service, I was on my way. On Friday morning, the day before the convention, I woke up at 6 A.M. and went to work. I returned home at 4 P.M. I picked up the rental car at 5 P.M. My dad and I hit the road at 6 P.M. Twelve hours later we arrived in Huntsville, Alabama driving a rather tacky looking purple Ford Escort. After some trepidation at finding a valid place to park our car, we walked over to the Von Braun Convention center. I stood in the "Will Call" line -- which should have been named the "Don't Call Us We'll Call You" line. My dad, who you can see pictured to the left above, wore his cool guy sunglasses and stood in the "Waiting To Get In" line. On the right you'll see a sloppy dressing Trekker asking one of the many convention security "Red Shirts" a bazillion questions. Regardless of our having been awake for 24 hours, we forged onward... and waited... and waited...

After being tortured by the convention security and box office workers for three hours, we were finally allowed to enter the convention complex. I'd been forced to wait in line while an elderly women attempted to locate my pre-paid tickets from an enormous box of HAND-WRITTEN envelopes (Yikes!) As I frantically waited, I was given a map of the convention's interior. It took some time to figure out that the Spencer's store inside had been deemed "The Warp 10 Store." After gritting my teeth and watching hundreds of people enter the building before me while the sweet little old lady in the window repeatedly asked, "Ummm... How do you spell Shields again?" I was granted my tickets and the mad dash began. My dad and I adeptly followed the map to one of the main meeting areas. The picture on the left is obviously that of the Spenser's store. It seemed a bit odd that the word Spenser's was so small -- as if to downplay the company name. Once I got inside and saw their pricing, it all made a lot more sense to me. To the right is a picture of the main convention floor. I didn't find my way into that area until after the Spencer's Stress Test was complete.

I settled into yet another line of fellow Trek fans that led into the Spenser's store. My first scalper encounter occured moments after my entry. He's the first guy you'll see (to your left). This candid photo of the complete stranger (whom I have dubbed Joe Scalper) was easily taken. The sight of boxes upon boxes of Playmates shipping crates had mesmorized everyone in the store. Even I was not immune to the tactile pleasures of touching so many exclusive figures. There was a six set limit per person in effect at the time, which didn't bother me. I purchased six sets and my dad chipped in for four sets of his own. He also bought a Star Trek Ken & Barbie for a friend's daughter. I saw more oblivious people during my brief stint in the store -- all of whom seemed to be completely unaware that they were bending the hell out of figures they were holding. One woman was gripping as many as 12 of them from the top of the cards, all being held in one hand, and yelling, "Hurry, honey, these're gonna be worth like $60 or $70 each when we get home!" The middle photograph is of a kid who was humming "We're In The Money" under his breath. Nice kid, but I was still a bit freaked out nevertheless. The photo on the right is of a rather large pile of Mr. Sulu figures which were either bent, had a dent in the bubble, or their foot numbers didn't satisfy the Foot Number People. I don't get the Foot Number People.

Here's a close-up shot of the peg wall that brought either disgust or pleasure to conventioners. When the place first opened at 8 A.M. this wall was apparently not erected. People climbed on top of the massive wall of Playmates shipping boxes (located directly behind me when I took this picture) and wound up damaging a lot of figures. These boxes do not make good foot stools, apparently. The man in the foreground is a Spenser's employee who was frantically putting figures up on the pegs while customers just as frantically removed them. Remember the Foot Number People? They had this odd habit of clawing all over figures, reading the foot number, and then tossing the figures aside. Yuck. I didn't care about any of the foot numbers I was buying. Card & figure condition were my primary concerns. Most of the figures that were hung up on these pegs were actually Foot Number People rejects. Ironic, isn't it? The convention wasn't all about action figures. There were several programs held that day which featured many prominent stars of Star Trek. We spent a lot of time in a place called The Playmates Toys Arena, which was actually a basketball stadium with a very Trek-esque stage on one end. Actor John de Lancie ('Q') hosted the activities. The picture to your left is of Kate Mulgrew (Captain Katherine Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager) and the aforementioned John de Lancie who has made a guest appearance in all three of the recent Star Trek series incarnations. I actually got extremely close to both actors and was impressed that they were so accessable to the public. Later in the afternoon came the Star Trek Aliens program. Pictured to the right are Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Armin Shimmerman (Quark), and make-up effects wizard Michael Westmore. There were many witty stories and anecdotes that each of the actors shared with the conventioners. One of the most humorous was the fact that Auberjonois (Odo) can simply peal his face mask off at the end of the day in a matter of seconds. He often entertains any young kids who might be present to witness this interesting (if not horrifying) event. He demonstrated his mask removal process on an old Odo mask he'd worn earlier in the week. I'll just tell you that it all begins with him sticking his finger up his nose and pulling it off. I'm sure it's quite entertaining if you were to see this in person. Michael Westmore is the make-up effects wizard from Star Wars who has been working all-out in the Trek universe for 10 years now. His work in Star Trek: First Contact is nothing short of amazing, in my humble opinion. Cool flick, man.

The Star Trek: 30 Convention in Alabama was not without its share of Classic Trek actors. Nichelle Nichols was right on the convention floor signing autographs of her book and whatever else anyone brought up to sign. I passed the opportunity but there is still something neat about meeting a cultural icon face-to-face. It makes things seem all the more real. I heard some people mumbling to themselves about how they were going to invite Nichelle over for a party at their place that night. I wonder if she took them up on it? They seemed a bit on the nerdy-goofy side, but who knows, maybe she digs their kind. Most conventioners were normal looking but, as you can tell from some of the photos, people dressed in all-out Trek attire were not uncommon. As for myself, I wore my #8 Dallas Cowboys' Troy Aikman football jersey and received numerous compliments. That was both unexpected and cool at the same time. As I received compliments on my shirt, I noticed James Doohan was signing hockey pucks in a nearby booth at the same time and posing for photographs if you paid $20 for the shot. He did a great job of smiling and giving whomever he took the picture with a great big ol' hug. Yes, he was being paid for it, but I can bet you that everyone who took one of those pictures home was more than happy. I've heard nothing but good things about Doohan and hope he's around for many years to come.

To the right you'll see a photo of me taken after being awake for 36 hours. It was at about this same time that my dad and I went to a McDonald's down the road from the Von Braun Civic Center (where the convention was held). We had bought our figures, checked out all of the fascinating programs that were held, met with many stars of Star Trek, and had an all out great time. It was there that we came up with the wacky idea that we should head back to Houston, and that's exactly what we did. By 6 A.M. on Sunday morning we'd returned to Houston, Texas. My only problem had occurred somewhere in Meridian, Mississippi when I'd heard voices talking to me. They kept saying, "Cut the spider web down the middle, or else you'll break it." I've no idea what that meant, but I did manage to make it home safely. I don't recommend staying up for 48 hours in a row. Delirium just isn't healthy. Anyway... I hope you've found this journal of my trip as entertaining as it was for me to experience it.